Preparing for Religious Life
Three Ways to Prepare While Considering a Religious Vocation
If you are considering religious life, you are probably interested in what you can do in your life right now to prepare yourself to follow God’s call. Here we offer some thoughts on three ways to prepare while considering a religious vocation (although they would also help prepare for any Christian state in life). These tips are general, and need to be adapted for your particular situation. If you are considering contemplative Dominican life, and would like personal advice, feel free to contact us.
In brief, these three ways to prepare are:
Grow in friendship with God.
Grow in human maturity and virtue.
Grow in practical skills.
Now we will consider each of these at greater length.
Friendship with God
1. Grow in friendship with God. Vocation is based on relationship. Our Lord calls you to intimate friendship with Him right now, not just in a possible vocation as a nun. By your baptism, Jesus has claimed you as His own, and given you the life of grace—His Divine Life—in your soul. As you grow in His friendship, you will be increasingly able to hear and follow Him wherever He leads. He loves you intensely and personally, and desires your happiness more than anyone else does (even you).
Here are some helpful means:
Sacramental life: Holy Mass, daily when possible; frequent Confession (anytime from weekly to monthly); Eucharistic Adoration regularly.
15-30 minutes daily (minimum) of personal, silent, interior prayer with God (“mental prayer”). This can be just sitting still with Him, or through Lectio Divina or other meditation.
Lectio Divina or meditating on the Word of God in Sacred Scripture. Use the readings from daily Mass, or read through a Gospel to start with.
Pray the Rosary and love Our Lady! Make St. Louis Marie de Montfort’s Total Consecration.
At some point, learn how to pray the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office). (On a daily basis, we think interior, personal prayer has a higher priority for a young person if you don’t have time for both, but becoming familiar with and participating in the Office at least on occasion is helpful.)
Works of mercy. Even if you hope to enter the cloister, putting love for God into action through volunteering at your local parish or campus ministry, or getting involved in some way in helping others is an important way to grow in love of God and neighbor.
Learn more about the Catholic Faith and its heroes, the saints.
Human Maturity
2. Grow in human maturity: One doesn’t have to be completely “grown up” to enter religious life, but communities look for “maturity proportionate to age.” Take responsibility for yourself and your duties, and learn to handle your emotions and relationships well. Even adults can continue to prepare themselves by growing in virtue. Some examples:
Every day you make many decisions that create habits of acting: virtues or vices. Strive to live virtuously.
If you are a student, be responsible and diligent in your studies.
Make a special effort to be respectful of authority figures, whether your parents, teachers, priests and bishops and the Holy Father, etc. This is very counter-cultural today, yet it is the basis of living the religious life—a life based on obedience.
Be prudent about what you do for fun. Spend time with friends who help, not hinder, a life of virtue in Christ.
Moderate use of media. Being addicted to social media is antithetical to a life of prayer. Avoid books, movies, music, and entertainment that do not glorify God. Make time for silence, so you can hear God.
If you are serious about considering religious life, do not date, or cultivate exclusive friendships with young men that are basically dating. The best advice we have heard on this: if you want to avoid dating, its fine to have guy friends, but do not do “dating” activities with a guy friend (that is, one-on-one activities at the times, in the places, and of the type that couples do—even studying together alone) because you will end up dating him.
Especially if you are in high school or college, take opportunities for growing in maturity: learning to drive, getting a job, participating in various extra-curricular activities, volunteering, all provide opportunities for human growth.
Practical Skills
3. Grow in practical skills. Other than requiring a minimum level of education (usually high school or college), religious communities typically are prepared to teach candidates the special skills required for their vocation. While the skills on this list are not required, they can be very helpful to have when entering our community in particular, and working to acquire them can help your growth in maturity and virtue in the meantime.
Basic housekeeping skills: cleaning, cooking, laundry. Any practical skill can come in handy!
Singing in choir is very helpful preparation if you are considering a community that sings the liturgy. (Especially a choir that sings the type of music your community sings–for us, chant, sacred music, and traditional hymns.)
Playing piano or other musical instrument. Piano (or organ) is especially helpful for everyday accompaniment of liturgical prayer.
Sewing, both by machine and by hand (such a buttons and mending).
If you are considering a community such as ours that uses Latin in the Liturgy, studying Latin is definitely helpful.
Also, real life hobbies such as gardening or other outdoor activities, artistic hobbies such as drawing or painting, or craft-type hobbies such as knitting, crocheting, scrapbooking—even enjoying playing games in a group!—are helpful in being a rounded human being.